Eliminations ended quickly. Luckily both Ruby and Mia were still standing. It was time to focus.
"I'm not useless anymore, I'm not useless anymore," Mia chanted quietly to herself.
"Today we will be using our marbles once again!" Mary called out. Interesting. They had been reusing supplies much more than they normally did. What was up with that? Maybe nothing was up with that? Maybe Mary was just running out of ideas. Mia was doing way too much thinking, wasn't she? Yes, she was. She had to empty all useless thoughts from her mind. Mia strained her ears and clung to every word that came out of Mary's mouth. "Please collect all of your marbles and set them down on the ground!" commanded Mary.
Mia obeyed without hesitation. What, oh, what was Mary planning? Was this a repeat of one of the other games? No, this was different. Something was happening. Mia's purple marbles were glowing with a pale, cold light. Instantly, Mia leaped back. Her instincts were screaming at her to get away as quickly as she possibly could. Ruby's red marbles were also glowing. All the marbles were glowing. What could Mia do? There was no way for her to run away when she was totally surrounded. Suddenly, Mia felt Ruby's hand on her shoulder.
That gentle gesture was enough to calm Mia down. Now she had regained some of her focus. She and Ruby needed to stick together. They needed each other to make it through this round. If they were separated, everything would fall apart. So Mia grabbed Ruby's hand. No matter what came next, she wasn't going to let go of her friend.
"Thank you!" Mary sang out. "Now, if I were down there with you, I would be running," said Mary cheerfully. It took Mia a moment to process her words. Well, Mia's instincts had been right. They were supposed to get away from the marbles as quickly as they possibly could. Ruby scooped Mia up off her feet and bolted down the nearest street. That was it?
Was this all Mary was going to give them? Were there no more instructions or directions other than run. Now Mia could see the light behind them was growing brighter and brighter. What in the world had Mary done to those poor marbles? The marbles were also made of glass. That was another one of the many spyglasses that Mary and the other humans could use on the dolls.
Mia watched in astonished silence as the marbles began to fly through the air. Suddenly, the world around Mia was covered in colorful streaks of light that flew like bullets towards the dolls. Within five seconds several dolls lay on the ground in pieces. They hadn't even had the time to scream. Those small, pretty, little marbles had been completely transformed into a weapon that was at least five times more deadly that anything that Mia had ever seen.
"Ruby, look out! Move to the left!" Mia shouted as a cluster of green marbles came flying towards them. Ruby ducked to the left and turned sharply down an alley. The marbles whizzed on past the girls.
"Let's stick to the alleys where there are fewer dolls. I doubt all of the marbles will be able to follow us this way." That was a good idea. But Mia could still hear the screams from the square and they were moving closer. There was no time to rest. She and Ruby had to keep going.
"Okay. You focus on running. I'll keep an eye out for danger, and I'll tell you where to go," said Mia.
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"That's a great idea!" Ruby said. Those words were enough to fill Mia with a sense of overwhelming pride. Mia had already found her use. She had done exactly what she had set out to do. Look at me now, Ivy! I'm going to do everything I can for you! From now on I will be the best fighter that I can be! Mia thought to herself. The bright flashes of color glowed even more brightly in the shadows of the alley.
"They're coming! Hurry!" Mia called out as Ruby ducked into an even smaller alley. The marbles followed them. Never in all her life had Mia ever imagined that she would find herself running from marbles. But then again, there were many games that had put Mia in all kinds of strange and bizarre situations. The marbles seemed to be growing faster and faster.
There was no way that Ruby could outrun them at this rate. Mia wasn't even sure if Ivy would have been able to outrun them and that was saying something. Closer and closer the pretty little balls of death grew. How much stamina did Ruby have left? "Hurry, Ruby!" Mia shrieked as panic consumed her. The instant that the words left Mia's mouth, the marbles shot forward with a fresh burst of speed. Huh? How strange. Had Mia's cry done that? Without really understanding what she was thinking, Mia nestled up closer to Mia and she began to whisper to Ruby.
"I think that the marbles are using sound to locate us," she hissed. "Let's head down that alley up there and then we'll be as quiet as we can be," Mia whispered. Ruby gave her a confused look. Slowing down probably sounded like a crazy idea to her. But it wasn't like there was anything else that they could do. The marbles had almost reached them. At last Ruby nodded and turned down the alley Mia had gestured to. Then, she ducked down close to the ground and held perfectly still. Eyes closed, Mia clung to Ruby as braced herself for the stabbing pain. But it didn't come.
Mia opened an eye. The marbles whizzed past them and headed back towards the main square which was much noisier. Ruby and Mia didn't move until they were well out of sight. Finally, Mia allowed herself to breathe. She honestly couldn't believe that had worked. Ruby was staring at Mia as if she had sixteen eyes on her face.
"How did you know to do that?" asked Ruby.
"I just noticed that my screaming seemed to make them faster. It was just an idea that came to me suddenly," admitted Mia. "Hm, Lu said that the overseers could see through the glass. I wonder if the glass can also carry sound. Maybe that's why the marbles stopped following us when we fell silent," Mia suggested.
"Hey now, that's a thought. It might. You should ask Lu what she thinks next time we see her, Mia." Right, they would visit Lu tonight. That gave Mia another reason to keep going. She needed to live long enough to join the rebels and make a difference. Her heart was set on it, or should she say that her core was set on it.
"Alright! I'll mention it to her."
"Thank you, Mia. My stamina was draining. I probably would have been destroyed if it weren’t for you. You great today, kiddo. Ivy would be proud of you," said Ruby. Ivy would be proud of you. Those heavenly words filled Mia's mind. She carried them with her all throughout the day. Ivy would be proud of her. Ivy would be proud of her. But Ivy might still be alive. Mia would find Ivy and tell her about the idea herself. Then Mia would see just how proud Ivy was of her.
Level
12
XP
51
Strength
5/100
Health
95/100
Stamina
30/100
Powers/Spells
Montus